Dogsledding Above The Arctic Circle At Gates Of the Arctic National Park And Preserve

Sit back and enjoy a dogsled trip through Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. NPS photo.

Traveling through Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve in winter isn't done easily. Often the best way to travel is by dogsled, a mode of travel that once was the only way to get around this cold, snowy, demanding landscape during the winter months.

The park is sprawling, covering more than 7.5 million acres above the Arctic Circle. Often called the greatest wilderness in North America, the National Park Service describes Gates of Arctic as "characterized by jagged peaks, gentle arctic valleys, wild rivers, and many lakes." It's an incredibly beautiful landscape, one that is demanding of its human visitors.

The original slideshow of this adventure was pulled together by the folks at Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve and from Alaska Geographic. Particular thanks to Tracie Pendergrast, Zak Richter, and Pam Rice at the Park Service, and to Lisa Oakley at Alaska Geographic. With their permission, we added some background music (Arctic Blue, from TheSpirit of Alaska CD by Orange Tree Productions), and turned it into a flowing video.

As you watch the production, keep an eye out for signs that caribou passed by, or where a wolf compacted snowy footprints on river ice, or where a ptarmigan walked along before taking wing.